


Hope is more than a postponed disappointment

by SpaceMalarkey



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hope, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Love, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 21:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18199463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceMalarkey/pseuds/SpaceMalarkey
Summary: Time learns a valuable lesson about life





	Hope is more than a postponed disappointment

**Author's Note:**

> Linked Universe AU is created by jojo56830 (linkeduniverse.tumblr.com)
> 
> I dont own it I merely get inspired too much by the discord server. You all will be the end of me

Time is feeling his failures and grief crushing him this night. He can’t sleep, can’t focus. All he can think about is how he has doomed nearly every other person in his group to their destinies. He has tossed and turned in his bedroll with no hope of rest, so he gives up and walks over to Wild in front of the fire.  He sighs, exhausted, and rubs his face. Wild says nothing but hands him a slice of an apple.

The older hero chews slowly, pondering.  
"From what you have told me, and what your scars show, you have seen hell and come out alive," he mutters.  
Wild hums.  
"I was killed protecting Zelda and then I woke up 100 years later. Then I killed the calamity.”

Time thinks about it for a few moments, mulls it over and pieces together all the scraps of information he has on Wild. The scars and the way he reacts to his nightmares tell a gruesome tale.  
"How can you accept Hylias tasks for you when all she has done is take everything from you?"

Wild looks up at him and his eyes are wide, filled with a light Time can’t place.  
"It’s not hers to decide. My patron goddess is Farore" he hums calmly. He chews on a slice of apple before he continues.  
"I do what I do because I want to, not because someone told me to."

For some reason this angers Time.  
"How can you stand to keep going after all that pain? After everything that has been done to you by this destiny and that sword, that curse we share?"

Wild stops chewing on his apple and turns in his seat to face Time. He places both his hands on either side of the older man’s face, using his thumbs to stroke his cheeks in a soothing motion.

"You have been hurt so badly, and it’s all you can think about now. All you focus on are the bad that has happened and that is what your life has become. You let it control you, and you feed them. They become real problems because you can no longer see the good past the bad. You have let them consume you."

Then he smiles, and his eyes fill with that light again.  
"I accept everything that happens and welcome it all. I remember a time where I shut everything out. I was nothing, I was not a part of the life around me. That’s no way to live. That’s not what life is, Link.”

He smiles, and his gaze is so warm and loving.  
“Life is everything, good and bad. Life is engaging the present and looking towards the future. Life is despair and sadness and grief and pain. Life is joy, peace, love. Life is everything, and death is just another part of it, another contrast. It’s never ending, constantly flowing and changing. Isn’t that exciting?”

Wild is wearing that grin of his now. The one that usually spells so much trouble. However, in this very moment, Time can feel a warmth spreading, a tingling in his fingertips that he can remember feeling as a child. Before all the bad in his life took over.  
It’s glee. Joy.  
Its hope, Time realizes. The light that always shines in Wild’s eyes is hope.  
Hope for another day to experience life in all its glory, both good and bad.

Wild hugs him, pressing his cheek against his elder’s and he mutters into his ear.  
“I have been asleep for so long. I can’t afford to look to the past anymore. Everything has moved on without me and I need to be a part of it. Its who I am, and it’s who you are too. It’s who we all are, and we have to embrace it.”  
  
He moves away to look him in the eyes. His piercing blue eyes seem to look into his very soul.  
“It’s time you stopped chaining yourself to the past. You don’t belong there in the dark.” He smiles kindly. So full of love for a person who has hurt so badly.  
Time’s thoughts are reeling. Was all this despair and grief his own doing? Had his hatred of Hylia blinded him so badly?  
“I don’t know how to leave the dark,” he croaked. It felt like he had lost his voice, his resolve. He felt weak and small.

The younger cuddles close, pulling his head down to cradle it like a precious thing. Time could feel his fingers combing through his hair, caressing the tip of his ears as if he was looking for a spot.  
Suddenly he feels a tingling sensation wash over him and his body relaxes, leaning into the smaller one beside him. Wild hums and giggles a little.  
“Calm,” he mutters in a deeper voice than the one he normally speaks in. It feels like the entire forest is speaking to him through the younger.  
“Rest,” he commands softly. There is a comforting warmth spreading from him and his chest rumbles with pride and love.  
“Live, Link” he whispers.  
Time succumbs to a peaceful sleep, listening to the wind through the leaves, the crackle of the fire nearby, and Wild’s soft humming.


End file.
